Sanibel Sisters of the Sea

Some Sanibel Photos. I got plenty of painting inspiration while in sunny Florida. Now just to get some time to play with paints. Maybe in the new year . Had to share these great photos with you though. Sanibel is an annual trip for us sisters. It's a great time with family, we have a blast. My two brothers made it this year,too. Check back for Sanibel inspired paintings. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

purse ornaments

I had some orders to fill for the purse cards. My sister Nancy gave me a great idea, she said the purses you could use as an ornament on the tree. Thanks Nancy, great idea. so I've been busy designing card purses. The purple roses I painted and then outlined with the sparkles paint. The other three I designed using the DCWV paper. I cut out some of the elements in the paper to use as accents on the purses. The purses are trifolded and then I attach velcro to the inside as a closure on the purse front. I use coordinating fiber,ribbon or strung beads as handles the purse handles. I also painted some Christmas purses. Snowflakes are painted using the sparkles paint. The trees are painted and then I brushed on snow writers paint for the snowy effect on the front of the card.

ballet slippers

I redid the ballet slippers. Used hot pink and white to soften the color. I like it better a liter pink. And I like them hung by the ribbons, makes them look more like ballet slippers. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

The background is the DCWV All Dressed Up paper.

FLORIDA

I'll be seeing these soon . I'm off to Florida with my sisters. We have a blast in Florida every year after Thanksgiving. I'll be back posting in Dec. Check back to see my inspirations from Florida.

ballet slippers

The slippers I painted and then cut out and added to the background paper. The paper is DCWV All Dressed Up. Fun paper with glitter already added. Added rhinestone brads to the slippers and the ribbon tie ups. I did the slippers in a hot pink, next time I want to try a softer pink color.

frog in a pocket

I got the laundry done, then it was off to play with my paints. Here's that cute frog in a pocket.

HOPPY BIRTHDAY

A cute little frog for a kid's card or someone who likes frogs. I outlined the frog and lily pad with black so it would hop off the page. On the background I sponged blue paint to give it a water effect. I just had an idea, poke the frog out of a pocket, check back . I have to get hopping and do the laundry.

In memory of my Mom

My Mom loved to plant flowers around the home where we grew up. The Iris was one of those flowers. I used Night sky and wicker white to paint the Iris. Also I put floating medium on the brush and side loaded into the night sky color and shaded around the Iris, to make it stand out more.

Girls just want to have fun

These shoes were such fun to embellish. The black shoe straps I used scribbles glitter paint . On the pink shoe I used ribbon for the straps, and the little buckle to attach the strap to the side of the shoe. On the black shoe is a rhinestone brad for the attachment of the strap. I painted the shoes and then cut them out and adhered to the card front. The background paper is painted with the glitter paint to give it that sparkle. Fun, fun, fun............

girly stripes and dots

With this card I used the pocket fold and made a purse out of it. Painting the stripes and dots, adding some rick-rack,buttons, and beads, there you have a purse.

Slip in a gift card and they're ready to go shop.

sports fans

I came up with some sports paintings. These also have the pocket to slip in a gift card.

So I covered basketball, football and baseball. For football it's the Chicago Bears, that's my son's team, GO BEARS! It was fun to design the cards for the different sports.

pocket for a gift card

For gift cards I like to make a pocket. I sewed the sides up to hold the card and did top stitching around the flap edge. Used decorative scissors to cut the sides. And then to secure the flap I attached the buttons and wrapped the yarn around them. Yes I did paint the bowling ball and pin. Not bad. Why use a sticker or stamp when I enjoying painting. My wheels are turning now,I could do soccer, basketballs, or golf. For our two sons who are 22 and 18 gift cards are the way to go for Christmas gifts.

The bottom photo shows with the flap open and a gift card slipped inside the pocket.

gift bags

This time I painted on a gift bag. Using the same acrylic paints. For the snow I used the snow writer scribbles paint. I used it from the bottle tip instead of brushing it on, it gave it a textured look. On the snowman bag I did the snow flakes with this effect,click on the bag and you can see it up close.

gift bags

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cardinal

I get alot of cardinals in my yard. They are so lovely. The striking red color of the male bird. They love when I put out cantulope seeds for them. I painted the cardinal perched on the pine branch. On the branch I painted some of the snow writers paint. If you click the photo it may show up better for you . Just to give the branches a snow effect. The red I painted with is engine red and then added brown for the shading effects on the wings and tail of the bird. I mounted the painting onto a red card. I'll probably stamp a setiment in the upper right corner. As I'm posting this it's a 80 degree day,but snow will be coming soon to Illinois.

hummingbird

I picked the lovely hummingbird to paint. They're such fun to watch. I t was hard to get the colors just right, I still have to work on that. But not bad for my first attempt at painting the hummingbird. I like the challenge of trying different things to paint. So what's next? Keep checking my post to find out.

For my sis Rose

I was asked by my sister if I could paint a bunny. So here it is Rose. A bunny getting ready to nibble on some lettuce. It was a challenge to paint, to get the shading just right. I like the end results. Joann, I'm going to try to paint some birds,too. Keep checking out my blog for what's next.

Poppy

My next memories of the sister trip would have to be poppies. Thanks Rose for the poppy seeds. They'll look great with the pretty red color. That's what I wanted to portray in this painting, the rich red color of the poppy. I mounted the painting on a red cardstock.

roses

At the Missouri Botanical Gardens they have a beautiful rose garden. So this painting is of a photo my sister-in-law took when we were on our sister trip. Our mom had rose bushes on the side of our home where we grew up. So roses bring back memories of home. I picked red and pink colors for the roses,and I wanted the rose to take up the whole card. So let the roses take you down memory lane.

My husband painting

I was on a road trip with my sisters, so I haven't been blogging lately. We went to Missouri and stayed

with a sister there. While there we went to the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. I got a lot of inspiration for my paintings. This is a water lily painting in dedication to our sister's road trip.
My sisters rock! My husband has been busy with painting also, he's painting the trim on our house. He has a tall canvas to work on. Keep on the watch for more flowers inspired by my sisters road trip.

lamb

The lamb I used the same technique to paint as I did on the teddy bear.

I added the button to the side flap. Around the matted lamb painting I stitched with the blue floss. Also on the side flap I rounded the end. The paint on the lamb is wicker white and gray for the shading.

fly away

I like to paint on the envelopes too.

This one I added the lovely butterlfy. I thought these were fun colors to use to paint the butterfly, engine red and school bus yellow. Makes for one bright butterfly. On the card I cut out the butterfly and popped it up with pop dots. The ribbon has yellow,orange and red in it,works great to tie all the colors together. That's ribbon my niece gave me, thanks Annie! I don't paint on the weekends, so until next week. I have a few things in mind to paint. For a baby card. If you visit the blog, I would love if you leave a comment, just click on the word comment and type your comment. Thanks, I enjoy hearing from you.

Hugs and Kisses

I shifted gears, from painting flowers to painting some cute teddy bears. When I cut out the bear into the circle and then put the X at the side fold , I looked at it and said that's like a kiss and a hug. So that's when I added the tag that I stamped with hugs and kisses. It's fun how sometimes the design you see differently and it takes a new meaning. The circle I sewed on by hand using a running stitch. I like the end results. Using the trifolded card, I adhered the side with the X stitch. So that way when the card is opened the side is part of the design on the inside.

For BABY

This sweet teddy bear is a baby card. It's using a scruffy brush and pouncing the brush and then the bear gets that furry look .

Now I painted the bear then cut it into the rectangle piece using deckle scissors and adhered it to the trifold card.
With the card I secure the side fold by punching the star shapes and then tieing the fiber through them.

bird lovers

Some paintings for the bird lovers. I painted two different styles of bird houses. The one has a shingled roof and the other has moss growing on top. The shingled roof bird house I painted grape vines around it, it's a trifolded card. Two of the leaves I cut out and put pop dots to raise them. The other moss

covered bird house is also a trifolded card, but on this one I scalloped the one edge and then rubbed some purple paint on the edge. Then on the right side I punched two holes to add the fiber to that side. I'm pleased with the turn out of both, so be looking for more bird house paintings to be posted.

handmade card from Africa

I had to share this card I received in the mail. It's a handmade card from Africa. They cutout fabric for the clothes and their bodies are cut out paper. Isn't that cool, a handmade card from Africa.

autumn art

With the matted leaf I used glossy accents, it's a

3-dimentional, clear gloss medium. I used it on the entire leaf, giving it the raised effect. On the backround leaves I tried to give them a stamped effect and used a light touch with the painting of them.

autumn art

I thought the leaves were to plain on the card, so I added a painted leaf and mounted it to yellow mulberry paper. On the edges of the painted leaf I sponged some of the same colors I

used to paint to leaf. And I also added the ribbon to the top of the card. At the card bottom I cut out around the leaves. I like the additions. I don't think I need to add any more. So on to paint some other art.

autumn art

Pumkins and fall leaves are what I've been painting lately. There are such rich colors to use for fall time.

In the pumkin I used autumn leaves and engine red. Painting leaves using the same colors and contrasting with the green leaves. If you'ld like a closer look of the painting ,just click on that picture and you'll see greater detail . On the fall leaves painting I choose Yellow ochre and school bus yellow then autumn leaves and engine red . These are all folk art acrylic paints.

from flowers to fruit

I am using a

pearlescent acrylic paint in these two cards. It gives a pretty shine to the grapes and leaves. It does take longer to dry though then the folk art acrylic paint. The one card I punched out a square in the card and a larger
square cut out in the matting. Inside the card I painted grapes to show through the window. Then for the inside and front of the card I placed a cut out grape and used a pop dot to raise them. The other card I trifolded the card, painting grapes on the left side and painted a leaf and cut it out adhering it to the right side fold , so when you close the card you see the leaf peek out from behind the grapes. And then stamped a sentiment on the front on the card. I did like painting these grapes, so I will be trying other things besides flowers. Also on the card on the right, I cut out around the grapes on the front edge. Keep checking the blog for my next painted art. With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming soon I'm wanting to paint cards with those holidays in mind.